Computer network and related methods for generating printer usage information

ABSTRACT

A computer network may include a plurality of computers connected together in a network and generating printer control data, and at least one printer connected to the network for printing the printer control data. The at least one designated computer may generate printer usage information from the printer control data

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of documentprocessing, and, more particularly, to a computer network and relatedmethods for monitoring printer resource usage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Despite the advances in electronic document storage in recentyears, paper based documents are still required for many reasons bybusinesses, including readability and record maintenance. As a result,the use of printers is extensive and growing. The costs associated withprinters can be significantly high, and it may therefore be extremelybeneficial to many businesses to know what their printer resource usageis so that the costs associated therewith may be determined foraccounting purposes. Furthermore, this information may also assist indetermining how the printing requirements for a given business may bestbe met in the most economically efficient manner by using variousnetwork configurations or printers that are on the market.

[0003] To this end, a certain amount of print information may beobtained from the operating system on any particular individual personalcomputer, or on any network of computers. However, the information thatmay be gleaned from operating system records or logs is often limited.Although the operating system may provide information as to when a printjob was requested and by whom, for example, it generally will notprovide information about the attributes that were selected with theprint job. Such attributes may include, for example, sorting, stapling,double-sided printing, paper size, amount of toner/ink expended, etc.

[0004] Various attempts have been made in the prior art to account forprinter usage. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,113 to Aikens et al.discloses an electronic network transaction recording system foraccumulating billing data for printing machines interconnected tomultiple work stations on the network. A network administrator includesa memory for storing data representing usage of selected printers and adecoder for validating a print job request and a billing account number.This usage data and billing information is provided by the user via auser interface which is prompted when a user requests a print job.Requests for print jobs are verified based on the billing informationand billed to an individual or group billing account number.

[0005] While the above approach does provide certain advantages, such asattributing printing charges to billing account numbers, it may bedisadvantageous for tracking printer resource usage in somecircumstances. For example, if one wishes to track the usage ofparticular printers for resource deployment purposes, it may becumbersome to require users to type usage data and billing informationinto a user interface for each print request. Moreover, the above systemmay not account for print usage on local printers, or printing that isdone remotely by users with laptop computers, for example.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a computernetwork and related methods which generate printer usage informationthat may be analyzed to determine a more efficient allocation of printerresources and, consequently, promote more responsible use and a betterunderstanding of printing costs.

[0007] This and other objects, features, and advantages in accordancewith the present invention are provided by a computer network which mayinclude a plurality of computers connected together in a network andgenerating printer control data, and at least one printer connected tothe network for printing the printer control data. The at least onedesignated computer may generate printer usage information therefrom.Furthermore, the at least one designated computer may copy the printercontrol data and generate the printer usage information from the copiedprinter control data, which advantageously allows the printer controldata to continue to the intended printer without significant delay.

[0008] More particularly, the at least one designated computer may be atleast one server. Alternately, at least one of the computers may be aserver, and the at least one server may cause a tracking application tobe installed on the at least one designated computer for causing the atleast one designated computer to copy the printer control data andgenerate printer usage information therefrom. Further, the at least oneserver may also cause a monitoring application to be installed on the atleast one designated computer to detect local printing (or this may bedone manually). Thus, the at least one server may cause the trackingapplication to be installed on the at least one designated computerbased upon the monitoring application detecting local printing. Thus,the tracking application can advantageously be installed only on thosecomputers which perform local printing, for example, if desired.

[0009] In addition, the at least one designated computer may collect theprinter usage information. The at least one server and/or the at leastone collection computer may also collect the printer usage informationfrom the designated computer. Moreover, the at least one designatedcomputer may delete the printer usage information after collectionthereof by the at least one collection computer (or the at least oneserver). Further, the at least one collection computer may cause atracking application to be installed on the at least one designatedcomputer for causing the at least one designated computer to copy theprinter control data and generate printer usage information therefrom.The at least one collection computer may also periodically generate asummary of the printer usage information.

[0010] The at least one designated computer may include at least one ofa personal computer (PC), a laptop, and a personal data assistant (PDA),for example. Further, the at least one designated computer may betemporarily connected to the network. That is, if the at least onedesignated computer is a laptop, it may still copy printer control dataand generate printer usage information based thereon while it is notconnected to the network. The same may also be true of a PC when it isnot logged onto the computer network but is performing local printing,for example. Thus, the at least one designated computer may alsogenerate the printer control data. Furthermore, the at least one userdesignated computer may delete the copied printer control data aftergenerating the printer usage information.

[0011] The printer usage information may include at least one of a datewhen the printer control data was sent, a time when the printer controldata was sent, an identifier of a computer generating the printercontrol data, a user name of a user originating the printer controldata, an identifier for the at least one printer, a number of pages tobe printed, and a size of the printer control data. Moreover, theprinter usage information may also include job attributes including atleast one of paper size, simplex printing, duplex printing, sorting,stapling, binding, color printing, document collation, tumble feeding,manual feeding, automatic feeding, and trim.

[0012] A method aspect of the invention is for generating printer usageinformation for a computer network comprising a plurality of computers.The method may include generating printer control data from theplurality of computers to be printed by at least one printer connectedto the computer network. Furthermore, the printer control data mayoptionally be copied using at least one designated computer, and printerusage information may also be generated from the copied printer controldata using the at least one designated computer.

[0013] The present invention also relates to a computer-readable mediumhaving computer-executable instructions for performing steps forgenerating printer usage information for a computer network comprising aplurality of computers. The steps may include intercepting printercontrol data generated by the plurality of computers using at least onedesignated computer, where the printer control data is to be printed byat least one printer connected to the computer network, and generatingprinter usage information from the printer control data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014]FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a computer networkaccording to the present invention for generating printer usageinformation.

[0015]FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an alternate embodiment ofthe computer network of FIG. 1 including a server.

[0016]FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method according to thepresent invention.

[0017]FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating installation of the trackingsoftware according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] The present invention will now be described more fullyhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichpreferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to thoseskilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout, andprime notation is used to indicate similar elements in alternativeembodiments.

[0019] Referring now to FIG. 1, a computer network 10 according to thepresent invention is first described. The computer network 10illustratively includes one or more computers such as user computers 11connected together. More particularly, the user computers may bepersonal computers (PCs) 11 a and/or laptop computers 11 b, for example,or any other suitable device which is capable of generating print jobsfor a printer, such as personal data assistants (PDA), etc., forexample, as will be understood by those of skill in the art.Furthermore, the computer network 10 may be a local area network (LAN)or any other form of network, including a virtual private network or theInternet, for example.

[0020] One or more printers 13 are also connected to the network 10. Theuser computers 11 a, 11 b typically have one or more applicationsinstalled thereon, such as a word-processing application, for example,which generate print jobs. Each print job is transmitted to the printer13 as printer control data, as illustratively shown with solid arrows inFIG. 1, which includes the requisite instructions and/or informationrequired by the printer to print the user's document, image, etc. By wayof example, the printer control data may take the form of a print spoolfile, a print data stream, etc., depending upon the particularapplication generating the print job and/or the operating system. Theapplication directs the printer control data to be sent via the computernetwork 10 to a particular printer 13 (which may be either a networkprinter or a local printer), via a parallel port, serial port, infraredlink, USB port, etc.

[0021] As used herein, “printer” broadly includes any suitable devicethat can print a document, etc. from printer control data generated by acomputer, such as laser printers, ink-jet printers, thermal printers,multi-function devices such as copiers that include printingcapabilities, fax machines, etc., as will be understood by those skilledin the art. The computer network 10 may include wires, fiber-opticcables, and/or wireless links, for example, for connecting the variouscomponents, as well as other suitable devices which will also beappreciated by those skilled in the art.

[0022] According to the present invention, a printer control datatracker application may be installed and run on the user computers 11 a,11 b to detect when an application generates printer control data. Whenthis occurs, the printer control data sent from the user computer 11 a,11 b to the printer 13 is intercepted, and optionally copied by, theprinter control data tracker application. Copying the printer controldata may be advantageous in that the copy can be used to generate theprinter usage information, as will be explained further below, whileallowing the printer usage information to continue along to the printer13, though this is not required. The tracker application then executesthe printer control data (or copy thereof) to extract printer usageinformation (illustratively shown as dashed arrows in FIG. 1) therefrom.More particularly, the tracker application executes or renders theprinter control data, much the same as a processor in the printer 13would otherwise do to print the document, to obtain the printer usageinformation.

[0023] By way of example, the printer usage information may include: apage count; a date and time of printing; the user computer 11 a, 11 bfrom which the print job was generated and the user who originated theprint job; a logical printer to which the printer control data was sent;a port via which the printer control data was sent; a printer driverused; whether the printer control data was printed locally (i.e., whenthe user computer was connected or logged on to the network 10) orremotely; a name and size of the print job; and print job attributes.The print job attributes may include, for example, paper size, simplexor duplex printing, sorting, stapling, binding, color printing,collation, tumble feeding, manual or automatic feeding, trim, etc.

[0024] The printer usage information may be written into a printer usageinformation file which may then be forwarded to a collection computer 15also connected to the computer network 10, for example. It should benoted that a separate collection computer 15 may not be needed, and thata server 16′ (FIG. 2) or one of the user computers 11 a, 11 b maycollect the printer usage data in certain embodiments.

[0025] Moreover, printer usage information files may also be storedtemporarily in the memory (either in RAM or on disk, for example) of theuser computer 11 a, 11 b (or elsewhere) rather than being sent directlyto the collection computer 15. This may be advantageous when thecollection computer 15 is unavailable, for example. This may also bedone when the user computer 11 a, 11 b is temporarily disconnected fromthe computer network 10. According to the invention, when the usercomputer 11 a, 11 b is reconnected to the computer network 10, the printusage information file that is stored in the user computer may thenadvantageously be forwarded to the collector 15 so that no data is lost.

[0026] One example of disconnection and subsequent reconnection of auser computer 11 a, 11 b to the computer network 10 is that of a laptopwhich may be temporarily connected to the computer network for datasynchronization purposes. Of course, this may also occur with a user PC11 a in the case of a network or server outage, or simply from notlogging on to the network and printing locally, as will be appreciatedby those of skill in the art.

[0027] Turning now to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2, all of theuser computers 11 a′, 11 b′ are connected to the server 16′ (e.g., aprint server). If all of the printer control data from the usercomputers 11 a′, 11 b′ is directed to the network printer(s) 13′ via theserver 16′, the above noted printer control data tracker application mayadvantageously be installed only on the server yet still track all ofthe printer resource usage for the entire computer network 10′. Ofcourse, the printer control data tracker application may additionally beinstalled on the user computers 11 a′, 11 b′ as noted above, which willbe discussed further below.

[0028] As similarly described above, the server 16′ may generate theprinter usage information file and forward it along to the collectioncomputer 15′. Here again, the server 16′ could also collect the printerusage information in some embodiments, or the server may temporarilystore the printer usage information file as described above with respectto FIG. 1.

[0029] According to the present invention, printer resource usageinformation may be generated and collected for the computer network 10′over a predetermined period of time without users knowing that theresources are being monitored. For example, a period of about 40 days orless should be sufficient to provide an accurate sample of printerresource usage in most circumstances, though any period of time may beused. The results of an analysis of printer usage obtained according tothe present invention may be particularly accurate in that actual usageof the printer resources for both local and network printers may betracked.

[0030] To this end, if it is desired to install and operate the trackingfunction of the present invention in a way which is substantially“invisible” or undetectable to users, the printer control data trackerapplication may be installed remotely on the user computers 11 a′, 11b′. For example, another computer on the computer network 10′ (such asfrom the server 16′ or collection computer 15′) may cause the softwareto be uploaded to a user computer 11 a′, 11 b′ and then cause aself-install routine take place.

[0031] In certain circumstances, some other party, such as a consultant,may perform the software installation and analyze the results to reportback to the owner of the computer network 10′. Therefore, in a typicalinstallation setup, the consultant will install the software used toimplement the present invention on a consultant computer 17.

[0032] Thereafter, the consultant may install the collector softwareaccording to the invention on the appropriate collector 15′ (or server16′, if the server performs the collection function). This software isdesigned to work with the operating system (or systems) used by thecomputer network 10′, such as Windows NT or other suitable operatingsystems. The collector software, once installed, in turn configures andinstalls the printer control data tracker application software on theserver 16′ and/or user computers 11 a′, 11 b′.

[0033] If both the server 16′ and user computers 11 a′, 11 b′ have thetracking software installed thereon, there exists the possibility ofdouble counting print jobs as the printer control data propagatesthrough the computer network 10′. The present invention mayadvantageously avoid this problem by tagging each printer. spool filewhen it is copied by the printer control data tracker application.Therefore, before the copying occurs, a search may be performed for sucha tag. If a tag exists, then analysis of the data is not performed,since this has already been done “upstream.”

[0034] Installation of the counter and/or tracking software of thepresent invention may be performed in several ways. For example, a pushinstall may be used in which the server 16′ can “silently” push theprinter control data tracker application software onto any usercomputers 11 a′, 11 b′ on the computer network 10′. This option may beimplemented on Windows NT-based networks as well as others, for example.Additionally, an installation program may be emailed to users, alongwith a message telling the user to run that program. The program caneither be the full installation program for the printer control datatracker application or, alternatively, a smaller executable programwhich, when run, downloads and runs the larger installation program fromthe server 16′.

[0035] Moreover, on networks where logon scripts are used, the printercontrol data tracker application can be installed by adding a command toexecute the installer in the logon script. In addition, a manual installfrom a floppy disk, CD-ROM, etc., or alternatively a network share, mayalso be used. Other suitable methods may also be used.

[0036] It should also be noted that a relatively small local printerport monitoring program may also be similarly installed on a usercomputer 11 a′, 11 b′ to detect whether the user computer is printing toa local printer. If so, the local printer port monitoring program canprompt the server 16′ or collection computer 15′ to cause the printercontrol data tracker application to be installed on the particular usercomputer 11 a′, 11 b′. This may advantageously reduce the need toinstall the printer usage tracker application on every user computer 11a′, 11 b′, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art.

[0037] As noted above, printer resource usage according to the presentinvention can occur in both online and offline situations. For the caseof a laptop computer 11 b′, if the user is on a business trip andprinting from the laptop, printer usage information may be storedlocally as a file on the laptop. Then, once communication with thecollection computer 15′ is established or re-established via thecomputer network 10′, this printer usage information will be sent to thecollector and purged from the user computer 11 b′.

[0038] The same may also be the case for a PC 11 a′ if it is temporarilydisconnected from the computer network 10′ due to network outage, etc.If required, the printer usage files can also be manually copied to thecollection computer 15′ and added to the appropriate database. Ofcourse, the copied printer control data may also advantageously bedeleted from the memory of the server 16′ and/or user computers 11 a′,11 b′ after the printer usage information has been generated to furtherconserve memory consumption.

[0039] Once the print job information is sent to the collection computer15′, it may be stored in a central location in an encrypted format. Thisprevents unauthorized users from analyzing the data and limits suchanalysis to the appropriate consultant or administrator. Such encryptioncan also save space and prevent the collected printer usage informationfrom being corrupted should a user of the computer network 10 attempt tomanipulate the data.

[0040] Details of the collection process may advantageously be viewedon-site by an authenticated user or administrator, for example.Alternately, and/or in addition, summaries of the collection process maybe periodically generated and emailed by the collection software to theconsultant's computer 17′, or else manually collected by the consultant.For example, such data may be transferred as a CSV file, as will beappreciated by those of skill in the art, though any suitable datatransfer method may be used. During the data collection period, otherinformation relevant to the printer resource usage analysis andsubsequent recommendations generated by the collection software may alsobe collected by the consultant. Such information may include, forexample: the identity of all printers 13′ that have print queues to bemonitored and their locations relative to the user computers 11 a′, 11b′; the customer's special needs for secure printing; non-automatedfinishing options; manual finishing options and other options which arenot currently available on-site; and the customer's special stationeryneeds.

[0041] Turning now to the analysis of the printer usage informationwhich has been collected, as is illustratively shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,at the end of the collection period the consultant may collect theprinter usage information from the collection computer 15′ and load thisinformation into his computer 17′. The consultant may then normalize thedata. It is at this stage that logical printers may be matched tophysical devices from the information described above, as will beappreciated by those of skill in the art.

[0042] The consultant may then inspect the printer usage information andselect an appropriate time period to be used for subsequent reports.This time period may be a subset of the collection period, such as acalendar month, for example. In some circumstances it may be desirableto select a time period of more than a few days since it may takeseveral days before the printer control data tracker application isinstalled on all of the requisite user computers 11 a, 11 b, forexample. This may be the result of users being out of the office and notlogging onto their machines for an extended period, for example.

[0043] The consultant preferably generates reports which includeinformation regarding print sources and their associated volumes orworkloads. The print usage information may advantageously be analyzedusing existing analysis software (such as Microsoft Access or SeagateCrystal Reports, for example) to show the printing resources required atvarious time periods and the overall cost of these resources. Feedbackmay then be provided by the consultant to the customer on printer usageand configurations recommended for maximizing efficiency and minimizingcosts. The recommendations may involve recommending more appropriateprinters 13, or setup thereof, on the computer network 10. Of course,the printer usage information may also be analyzed on-site as well byeither a consultant or an appropriate administrator.

[0044] A method aspect of the invention for generating printer usageinformation for a computer network 10 will now be described withreference to the flow diagram of FIG. 3. The method begins (Block 20)with the generation of printer control data from the plurality ofcomputers 11 a, 11 b, as described above, at Block 21. The printercontrol data tracking application running on the at least one designatedcomputer may then intercept the printer control data (Block 22) anddetect whether it has already been tagged, at Block 23. If so, theprinter control data tracking application can pass the printer controldata along for printing (Block 27) without performing an analysis togenerate printer usage information (since this has previously beendone), as described above.

[0045] If the printer control data has not previously been tagged, thetracking application may optionally copy the printer control data (Block24) and generate the printer usage information therefrom (Block 25),i.e., by rendering or executing the file as described above. The printerusage information may also be tagged, at Block 26, and passed along forprinting, at Block 27. Of course, while the step of generating theprinter usage information (Block 25) is illustratively shown asproceding the step of tagging the printer control data (Block 26), thesesteps may be performed in any order. The tagged printer control data maythen be printed, at Block 28, thus concluding the print process (Block30).

[0046] The tracking application may then format the printer usageinformation as a particular file type (Block 31) and attempt to send thesame to the collection computer 15, at Block 32. If the at least onedesignated computer cannot send the printer usage information file tothe collection computer 15 (e.g., because either computer is logged offof the network 10), at Block 33, it may then store the printer usageinformation file locally (Block 34), as noted above, to be sent to thecollection computer at a later time. By way of example, the printerusage information file may be stored locally until a next time printercontrol data is intercepted, and the steps illustrated at Blocks 32-33repeated, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. On theother hand, if the at least one designated computer can send the printerusage information to the collection computer 15, then this is done(Block 36) and the data collection process is completed, at Block 37.

[0047] Turning now to FIG. 4, installation of the tracking applicationof the present invention is illustratively shown. The installation maybegin (Block 40) by optionally installing the local printer portmonitoring program (Block 41) to determine whether a user computer 11 a,11 b is printing locally or just to the network printer(s) 13. If localprinting is detected, at Block 42, then the collection software maycause the tracking application to be installed on the appropriate usercomputer(s) 11 a, 11 b. This may be done by the methods discussed above,for example, as well as manually. Further, if the tracking applicationis only to be installed on the server 16′, for example, this could alsobe done remotely by a consultant (Block 43) or as otherwise noted above,thus ending the installation process (Block 44).

[0048] Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention willcome to the mind of one skilled in the art having the benefit of theteachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associateddrawings. Therefore, it is understood that the invention is not to belimited to the specific embodiments disclosed, and that modificationsand embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of theappended claims.

That which is claimed is:
 1. A computer network comprising: a pluralityof computers connected together in a network and generating printercontrol data; and at least one printer connected to the network forprinting the printer control data; at least one designated computergenerating printer usage information from the printer control data. 2.The computer network of claim 1 wherein said at least one designatedcomputer copies the printer control data and generates the printer usageinformation based upon the copied printer control data.
 3. The computernetwork of claim 1 wherein said at least one designated computercomprises at least one server.
 4. The computer network of claim 1wherein at least one of said computers comprises a server; and whereinsaid at least one server causes a tracking application to be installedon said at least one designated computer for causing said at least onedesignated computer to generate the printer usage information therefrom.5. The computer network of claim 4 wherein said at least one server alsocauses a monitoring application to be installed on said at least onedesignated computer to detect local printing; and wherein said servercauses the tracking application to be installed on said at least onedesignated computer based upon the monitoring application detectinglocal printing.
 6. The computer network of claim 4 wherein said at leastone server collects the printer usage information.
 7. The computernetwork of claim 1 wherein said at least one designated computercomprises at least one of a personal computer (PC), a laptop, and apersonal data assistant (PDA).
 8. The computer network of claim 1wherein said at least one designated computer is temporarily connectedto the network.
 9. The computer network of claim 1 wherein said at leastone designated computer also generates the printer control data.
 10. Thecomputer network of claim 1 wherein at least one collection computercollects the printer usage information from said at least one designatedcomputer.
 11. The computer network of claim 10 wherein said at least onedesignated computer deletes the printer usage information aftercollection thereof by said at least one collection computer.
 12. Thecomputer network of claim 10 wherein said at least one collectioncomputer causes a tracking application to be installed on said at leastone designated computer for causing said at least one designatedcomputer to generate the printer usage from the printer control data.13. The computer network of claim 10 wherein said at least onecollection computer periodically generates a summary of the printerusage information.
 14. The computer network of claim 1 wherein said atleast one designated computer also collects the printer usageinformation.
 15. The computer network of claim 1 wherein the printerusage information comprises at least one of a date when the printercontrol data was sent, a time when the printer control data was sent, anidentifier of a computer generating the printer control data, a username of a user originating the printer control data, an identifier forsaid at least one printer, a number of pages to be printed, and a sizeof the printer control data.
 16. The computer network of claim 1 whereinthe printer usage information comprises job attributes comprising atleast one of paper size, simplex printing, duplex printing, sorting,stapling, binding, color printing, document collation, tumble feeding,manual feeding, automatic feeding, and trim.
 17. A computer networkcomprising: a plurality of user computers connected together in anetwork and generating printer control data; at least one printerconnected to the network for printing the printer control data; and atleast one server connected to said network for copying printer controldata and generating printer usage information therefrom.
 18. Thecomputer network of claim 17 wherein at least one of said user computersalso copies printer control data originating therefrom and generatesprinter usage information based thereon.
 19. The computer network ofclaim 18 wherein said at least one user computer is temporarilyconnected to the network.
 20. The computer network of claim 18 said atleast one user computer tags the printer control data originatingtherefrom; and wherein said at least one server does not generateprinter usage information for the tagged printer control data.
 21. Thecomputer network of claim 18 wherein said at least one server causes atracking application to be installed on said at least one user computerfor causing said at least one user computer to copy the printer controldata and generate the printer usage information.
 22. The computernetwork of claim 21 wherein said at least one server also causes amonitoring application to be installed on said at least one usercomputer to detect local printing; and wherein said server causes thetracking application to be installed on said at least one user computerbased upon the monitoring application detecting local printing.
 23. Thecomputer network of claim 17 wherein said at least one server alsocollects the printer usage information.
 24. The computer network ofclaim 17 wherein each user computer comprises at least one of a personalcomputer (PC), a laptop, and a personal data assistant (PDA).
 25. Thecomputer network of claim 17 wherein at least one of said user computerscollects the printer usage information from said server.
 26. Thecomputer network of claim 25 wherein said at least one server deletesthe printer usage information after collection thereof by said at leastone user computer.
 27. The computer network of claim 25 wherein said atleast one server deletes the copied printer control data aftergenerating the printer usage information.
 28. The computer network ofclaim 25 wherein said at least one user computer periodically generatesa summary of the printer usage information.
 29. The computer network ofclaim 17 wherein the printer usage information comprises at least one ofa date when the printer control data was sent, a time when the printercontrol data was sent, an identifier of a computer generating theprinter control data, a user name of a user originating the printercontrol data, an identifier for said at least one printer, a number ofpages to be printed, and a size of the printer control data.
 30. Thecomputer network of claim 17 wherein the printer usage informationcomprises job attributes comprising at least one of paper size, simplexprinting, duplex printing, sorting, stapling, binding, color printing,document collation, tumble feeding, manual feeding, automatic feeding,and trim.
 31. A method for generating printer usage information for acomputer network comprising a plurality of computers, the methodcomprising: generating printer control data from the plurality ofcomputers to be printed by at least one printer connected to thecomputer network; and generating printer usage information from theprinter control data using at least one designated computer.
 32. Themethod of claim 31 further comprising copying the printer control datausing the at least one designated computer; and wherein generating theprinter usage information comprises generating the printer usageinformation from the copied printer control data.
 33. The method ofclaim 31 wherein the at least one designated computer comprises at leastone server.
 34. The method of claim 33 further comprising using theserver to cause a tracking application to be installed on the at leastone designated computer for causing the at least one designated computerto generate the printer usage information from the printer control data.35. The method of claim 34 further comprising using the at least oneserver to cause a monitoring application to be installed on the at leastone designated computer to detect local printing; and wherein the servercauses the tracking application to be installed on the at least onedesignated computer based upon the monitoring application detectinglocal printing.
 36. The method of claim 33 further comprising using theat least one server to collect the printer usage information.
 37. Themethod of claim 31 wherein the at least one designated computer istemporarily connected to the network.
 38. The method of claim 31 whereingenerating the printer control data comprises generating the printercontrol data using the at least one designated computer.
 39. The methodof claim 31 further comprising collecting the printer usage informationfrom the at least one designated computer using at least one collectioncomputer.
 40. The method of claim 39 further comprising deleting theprinter usage information from the at least one designated computerafter collection thereof by the at least one collection computer. 41.The method of claim 39 further comprising using the at least onecollection computer to cause a tracking application to be installed onthe at least one designated computer for causing the at least onedesignated computer to generate the printer usage information from theprinter control data.
 42. The method of claim 39 further comprisingperiodically generating a summary of the printer usage information usingthe at least one collection computer.
 43. The method of claim 31 furthercomprising collecting the printer usage information using the at leastone designated computer.
 44. The method of claim 31 wherein the printerusage information comprises at least one of a date when the printercontrol data was sent, a time when the printer control data was sent, anidentifier of a computer generating the printer control data, a username of a user originating the printer control data, an identifier forthe at least one printer, a number of pages to be printed, and a size ofthe printer control data.
 45. The method of claim 31 wherein the printerusage information comprises job attributes comprising at least one ofpaper size, simplex printing, duplex printing, sorting, stapling,binding, color printing, document collation, tumble feeding, manualfeeding, automatic feeding, and trim.
 46. A computer-readable mediumhaving computer-executable instructions for performing steps forgenerating printer usage information for a computer network comprising aplurality of computers, the steps comprising: intercepting printercontrol data generated by the plurality of computers to be printed by atleast one printer connected to the computer network; and generatingprinter usage information from the printer control data.
 47. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein the computer executableinstructions cause the generating step to be performed on at least onedesignated computer.
 48. The computer-readable medium of claim 47further having computer-executable instructions for performing a step ofinstalling a tracking application on the at least one designatedcomputer for causing the at least one designated computer to generatethe printer usage information from the printer control data.
 49. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 48 further having computer-executableinstructions for performing a step of installing a monitoringapplication on the at least one designated computer to detect localprinting; and wherein the step of installing a tracking application isperformed based upon the monitoring application detecting localprinting.
 50. The computer-readable medium of claim 47 further havingcomputer-executable instructions for performing a step of collecting theprinter usage information at the at least one designated computer. 51.The computer-readable medium of claim 47 wherein the at least onedesignated computer is temporarily connected to the network.
 52. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 47 wherein generating the printercontrol data comprises generating the printer control data using the atleast one designated computer.
 53. The computer-readable medium of claim47 further having computer-executable instructions for performing a stepof collecting the printer usage information from the at least onedesignated computer using at least one collection computer.
 54. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 53 further having computer-executableinstructions for performing a step of deleting the printer usageinformation from the at least one designated computer after collectionthereof by the at least one collection computer.
 55. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 53 further having computer-executableinstructions for performing a step of periodically generating a summaryof the printer usage information using the at least one collectioncomputer.
 56. The computer-readable medium of claim 46 further havingcomputer-executable instructions for performing a step of copying theprinter control data; and wherein the step of generating the printerusage information further comprises generating the printer usageinformation from the copied printer control data.
 57. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 46 wherein the printer usageinformation comprises at least one of a date when the printer controldata was sent, a time when the printer control data was sent, anidentifier of a computer generating the printer control data, a username of a user originating the printer control data, an identifier forthe at least one printer, a number of pages to be printed, and a size ofthe printer control data.
 58. The computer-readable medium of claim 46wherein the printer usage information comprises job attributescomprising at least one of paper size, simplex printing, duplexprinting, sorting, stapling, binding, color printing, documentcollation, tumble feeding, manual feeding, automatic feeding, and trim.